


Bearing the Burden of a Secret Storm

by letsgobethots



Category: RWBY
Genre: Past Abuse, Past Blake Belladonna/Adam Taurus, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-Volume 5 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-06 08:39:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16384856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsgobethots/pseuds/letsgobethots
Summary: Some events can't be forgivable to some people. Some memories are a person's trauma. When Blake left after the Fall of Beacon, she left a wound on Yang that has yet to heal. Despite rejoining team RWBY, not everyone welcomed Blake back with open arms. What does Blake have to do to earn Yang's trust again?





	Bearing the Burden of a Secret Storm

It’s been several weeks since the fight at Haven. Many lives were saved and dangerous people were put behind bars. Team RWBY was back together and they had a new goal: to take the relic of knowledge to Atlas to ensure its safety. Weiss wasn’t so thrilled with the idea, but she got to be with her chosen family and that’s all that mattered. Qrow is the only adult in the group so he takes charge most of the time, but when it comes to fighting, team RWBY, what’s left of team JNPR, and Oscar follow her orders with trust. Their individual journeys have been hard, but they were together now and that’s all that mattered. When they began to set camp for the night, Yang went for a walk and stumbled upon a cliff. She stayed there to look at the view. Ruby and Weiss were laughing while Jaune, Nora, and Ren tried to start a fire. Blake saw her partner walk away from the group and decided to follow her.

  
Yang knew someone had followed her but wasn’t expecting it to be Blake. Blake’s cat ears flattened on her head as she decided on what to say. Before she could let a word out of her mouth, Yang spoke up, “What do you want, Blake?” She didn’t bother to turn around as she spoke. Blake took a deep breath before answering.

  
“You haven’t spoken to me since I came back.” A silence fell between them. Yang kept staring out as the sun began to set. It was getting colder, winter was approaching. “You barely glance at me. I just want to know…” Silence filled them again. Yang shut her eyes and looked down.

  
“Want to know what?” Blake hesitated to respond. “You got me alone now, Blake. Tell me how you really feel.”

  
“Are you still angry at me?” Yang’s silence answered the question. Blake began to feel choked up with all her emotions. “I know I did a horrible thing, I just-” She stopped when Yang finally turned around. Her eyes were red.

  
“Do you think just by strolling back into my life is enough for me? A simple ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t going to do it, Blake!” Tears filled Blake’s amber eyes as she stared at her friend. Yang looked away for a brief moment to calm down, but her eyes remained the same. “I’m not angry. I just… I can’t forgive you. Not yet. Not until you answer my question.”

  
Blake sniffed and rubbed a stray tear away. “What do you want to know?” Her hands shook as she waited. Yang stared at the Faunus, at the cat ears she proudly presented now. Blake noticed her stare and wanted to hide her ears in shame.

  
“Did you love him?” Blake stared at Yang in confusion. Yang blinked and her normal eyes returned, a lovely lilac shade that complemented her bright hair. She was calm. She had thought this over multiple times. “Tell me he was always a monster. Tell me you were with him because you had no other choice. Tell me what Adam meant to you.”

  
Blake froze. She faced Adam in Haven, and while she tried to be brave because she needed to stop the White Fang, she still fears him. She can’t sleep in fear he’ll show up where she is. She thinks about how he is still out there, still causing terror for humans and Faunus. She thinks about how she used to be and how she witnessed him change. She still remembers the Fall of Beacon, how her worst nightmare became true. How she lost her best friend because of him. Yang will never be the same. “Well?” Blake looked up and found that Yang had moved closer to her. “Tell me.”

  
“I can’t give you the answer you want,” Blake whispered so quietly, Yang could barely hear her. Yang sighed in annoyance, not in disappointment. She was expecting this. She knew Blake wouldn’t have told her anything.

  
“Then I can’t forgive you. I act the way I do in front of the team and the rest of the gang for Ruby’s sake. If she knew how I still felt, she would be upset and I don’t want that. You’ll tell no one about this.” With that said, Yang left Blake and joined the rest of group. Blake knew she should return so no one would question her, but she couldn’t control her emotions. She collapsed on the forest ground and cradled her head in her hands as she tried to control her sobs. Yang was a few yards away, but she still heard her teammate’s cries. She halted for a second before returning to the campsite.

  
Blake was by herself in the dark forest. It didn’t matter to her. Her Faunus characteristics let her see perfectly in the dark and she had Gambol Shroud with her for protection if anything happened. She stayed longer than she should have, the cold beginning to bite her skin, but she was so wrapped up in guilt and sadness that she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. She didn’t notice the Grimm that was encircling her. By the time she saw the Nevermore darting towards her, it was too late to reach for her weapon. She attempted to strike the beast with her sword, but someone had beat her to it. Qrow wielded his scythe and killed the Grimm before it could hurt Blake. Blake sat there in shock.

  
Qrow smirked down at the girl. “For someone with four ears, you’re not very good at paying attention to your surroundings, Blake Belladonna.” Blake glared at Ruby and Yang’s uncle. They met briefly before, back in Beacon before everything fell apart, but she never got to know him besides in his nieces’ tales.

  
“You’re very quiet when walking then,” she responded with a continuing glare. His smirk only grew wider as he imitated a bird by flapping his arms up and down. Blake blushed in embarrassment as she remembered Qrow’s other form. “Right. I forgot. I’m not used to it. Or to Oscar and… Professor Ozpin. It’s all really crazy.”

  
“Crazy’s what you make of it, Kitty Cat.” He unwielded his scythe and put it away. “Now why are you alone in the middle of the night in a forest surrounded by Grimm?” She tried to hide her emotions, but her cat ears gave her away. She restrained from wearing a bow when she rejoined RWBY, but it was so much easier to be emotionless when her ears were hidden. “That Nevermore could have attacked the camp. It should have been more appealing for it because there are so many of us there. Yet it came to you. We both know what attracts Grimm.” She didn’t respond. “If it weren’t for the fact that Yang had first watch tonight, your entire team would be out here looking for you. But she told me you were ‘fine’ and needed some time for yourself. Now, what could that all be about?” Qrow took a seat near Blake. “Kid, I’m not here to lecture you.”

  
“Do you know how Yang lost her arm?” Blake asked quietly. Qrow sighed as he pulled out his flask. Blake didn’t look up. She looked at the frost covered ground as her head and car ears hung in shame.

  
“I know she tried stopping a White Fang member. That’s all she told me for the matter. She wasn’t exactly social and open to us while she was healing.” Qrow took a swing from his flask. “But, judging by how you two haven’t exactly warmed up to each other, I imagine something more might be to that story.”

  
“She did try stopping a White Fang member.” Blake reached down to her abdomen and felt the scar that Adam’s weapon left behind. “She was trying to find me. I was in the library fighting Adam. He used to be my partner before I joined Beacon Academy and met Yang. Back when I was still a member of the White Fang.” Blake didn’t look up, she didn’t want to see Qrow’s reaction. “I… I took a hard hit. My aura wasn’t completely gone, but Adam’s weapon cuts through the aura. He stabbed me. Yang witnessed it and got enraged. She charged after him and Adam…” Blake took a deep breath. “Well, you know what happened.”

  
“I didn’t know that.” They remained silent, the forest sounds filling the space between them. “Does she blame you for it?”

  
“I don’t know,” Blake answered with a shake of her head. “I asked her and she told me she isn’t angry with me, but she can’t forgive me. I don’t know what to do. She wants me to tell her something that I can’t give her and we’re at a loss. I hate that I ran away, but I did what I thought was best. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I knew Adam would follow me and leave the rest of my friends alone.”

  
“Have you told her this?” Blake shook her head. “Good. Knowing Yang and how hotheaded she is, she probably wouldn’t accept that answer. I don’t know what to tell you, kid. Sometimes bad things just happen, but it seems you can fix your problem with Yang is you just thought it through.” Qrow took a final drink of his flask before standing up. “You should return to the campsite soon. I’m going to scout the area and make sure there aren’t anymore Grimm around. And I know well enough to keep this conversation between us.” With that, Qrow took a running head start before jumping and turning into a crow. Blake still found it bizarre but knew there were crazier things in the world. She returned to the campsite. She deflected a blow from Yang’s Ember Celica as she neared.

  
“Who’s there?!” she shouted and jumped down from her hideout. Blake had Gambol Shroud out in defense. Both girls stared at each other as they tried to calm their racing hearts. “You could have warned me it was you! I could have hit you!” Yang shouted in frustration before returning to her previous position. Her eyes were red. It seemed that's all they were whenever she spoke to her former partner. Blake put her weapon aside her sleeping bag.

  
Days went by and Blake felt herself detaching from her team. It felt like she was back in Beacon when they first found out she was a Faunus. When she was obsessing over Roman Torchwick. Back when her biggest concern were criminals with bad fashion choices. She was witnessing everything from an outside point of view. She didn’t experience anything. The Grimm got worse as they continued, and she felt responsible for it. Qrow kept his promise and didn’t mention the conversation again and didn’t speak to Yang, but his concern was still there. Whenever a Grimm was shot down, he would glance at her before looking at his own niece. Nobody knew about the whirlwind going through her head. Yang still remained distant from Blake, but it felt worse now for the Faunus. Now she knew why Yang was upset, but couldn’t do anything about it.

  
Life went a little easier for the gang when they had a village to stay for the night. It was the first village they had seen in weeks. Qrow took the lead and asked for any rooms that could house nine Huntsmen. “We can give you four rooms that have two twin beds and a room for one. We don’t have anything larger than that.” Qrow nodded and accepted.

  
“C’mon, Ruby, let’s go to bed,” Yang called out and waived her sister over. Ruby hesitated. “What is it, sis?”

  
“Well, I was kind of hoping I could share a room with Weiss?” Ruby responded. “I mean, we thought it would be like that and Weiss was going to show me how her summoning works. I wanted to see if there was any way she could use it for it to work with the team.” Yang looked up and saw Weiss staring at her with a confused look. Ren and Nora headed off together, Qrow kept the single room, and Jaune and Oscar were left with each other. Yang’s eyes wandered over to Blake who was hidden in the corner. “Yang? Is everything okay?”

  
“Everything’s fine, Ruby,” Yang answered in a controlled voice. She took the room’s key from the innkeeper and tossed it to Blake. “I’m going for a drink. I need a strawberry sunrise.” Yang headed towards the bar.

  
Qrow groaned in annoyance. “You’re too young to drink, Yang!” All he wanted was to go to sleep in a warm bed without being surrounded by kids. “Stupid teenagers and their stupid need to be rebellious and to defy authority figures.” He grumbled as he stalked after her. Blake watched as Qrow sat next to Yang.

  
“Blake, is everything okay?” Blake looked up to Weiss. It’s strange that she considers Weiss Schnee one of her closest friends when she once viewed the Schnees as an enemy.  
“Everything’s fine,” Blake responded, mirroring Yang. “We’re all just very tired.” Ruby gave her teammate a concerning look before heading to her own room. Weiss hesitated for a moment before following after her partner. Blake looked at the tag attached to the key and followed the signs to her room. Unlocking it, she threw her bag and weapon to the bed and pulled up a chair near the window. She shut her eyes briefly, deciding what she should do. Her eyes flew open when she heard the door open at Yang’s arrival. She was complaining about Qrow, but Blake didn’t care enough to listen to her ramble. Yang collapsed on the remaining bed with a sigh.

  
“Are you just going to sit there in silence? Just an empty shell of a person?” Yang taunted. Blake closed her eyes briefly, her ears down in shame. “Or are you going to run away like you always do?”

  
“You were never cruel to me, Yang,” Blake whispered. Yang crossed her arms under her head and stared at the ceiling.

  
“Yeah, well, things have changed since then.” Yang pushed her hair out the way. She lifted her robotic hand in front of her face and sighed. “I’m not the same person you left behind. Do you even care about the people you leave? How they would react? All you do is run away without thinking about others.”

  
“You want me to tell you he was always a monster,” Blake began with a shaking voice. She gazed out the window, focusing on one spot so her emotions wouldn’t run wild. “I can’t. I can’t tell you I hate him.”

  
“Can you tell me you never loved him?” Yang asked carefully. Blake felt a single tear fall down her cheek as she remembered her past.

  
“No.” Yang felt tears in her eyes, but she also felt rage. She was confused. She didn’t know how to respond so she waited for Blake to continue. “Adam was… _is_ a complicated person. But when I met him, he was different. I wasn’t a young child when I met him, I was thirteen. I had been in the White Fang most of my life. My dad was the High Leader, I didn’t have much of a choice when it came to that. I attended the boycotts and riots, but we were never a violent group in my earlier years. When Dad returned home from his missions, he told me stories of how they went. I wasn't allowed to join because it was dangerous. My parents feared for my safety. I wasn’t trained to fight or defend myself, I would be useless in most missions. Dad told me about a new recruit who was passionate and driven on defending the Faunus. Dad found him in the forest fighting Grimm during one of the White Fang’s regular missions. Adam told him he escaped from the dust mines the Schnee family controlled. Dad described him as a hero so that’s what he became to me.

  
“Adam visited Menagerie and that was the first time I met him. He was sixteen, a little older than I was. When he first saw me, he asked why I was never part of any missions. I told him about my parent’s concern and my lack of training. Adam told my parents that I had a warrior’s heart and I should be trained to fight for our cause in multiple ways. They agreed if it was Adam teaching me. He was the best fighter Dad had ever seen and he wanted to make sure I was in good hands. I trained for a year with Adam. First, it was just hand to hand combat and getting familiar with fighting and what to do if I found myself without a weapon. He helped me create Gambol Shroud and master her. I unlocked my semblance. I fought Grimm in the forest with him then it was by myself as a hoard of Grimm attacked. I was ready on all accounts. Adam trained me hard and I never caught a break, but I was grateful. It meant that I could help the Faunus more than just our peaceful protests.”

  
Blake fell silent for a minute, collecting her thoughts. She had suppressed them for so long, her memories were fuzzy images of what happened. “But as my individual training kept going, Adam lead missions with Dad and his second in command, Sienna Khan. The reports said that there were more injuries and deaths in the missions, but we weren’t told who was hurt. They were supposed to be simple missions, they were only recruiting members in villages near the coastline of Anima. When they returned, I was so relieved to see Adam and my dad. But Dad wasn’t happy to see me hug Adam. He took me to another room and told me what happened during the mission. Adam killed a human and when confronted about it, Sienna told Dad that Adam did the right thing to protect the Faunus. Everyone else in the mission agreed except my dad. I was shocked. What was I suppose to say? I demanded an explanation from Adam. He told me, ‘The human was going to shoot at Ghira. I didn’t know what else to do, but I knew I had to stop him. I couldn’t let anything happen to our leader, it would devastate the White Fang. But, most importantly, I know how much it would affect you and I couldn’t let that happen.’ I…” Blake released a deep breath. “I was foolish. I felt this… warmth in my chest. An admiration for what he did. He cared about me and I cared about him. So I did what any stupid little girl would do and I kissed him and he kissed me back and I felt safe.” Blake buried her head in her hands and tried to calm down.

  
“I’m not proud of what I did that night. But I confronted Dad about the mission, how Adam didn’t deserve the hatred he was giving him, that Adam saved his life. He only shook his head and told me that there would be a meeting in the following days that would affect all of the White Fang. I didn’t know what that had to do with Adam at the time, but I didn’t pry the subject. When the meeting came, Dad declared that he was stepping down as High Leader and letting Sienna Khan take this place. I was shocked. My dad helped establish our organization, a lot of Faunus saw it as a betrayal. I saw it that way, too. I confronted my parents about it. I called them cowards for leaving. They told me that it was my choice to stay with them or to leave with Adam.

  
“I was wrapped up in this fantasy that Adam would create change for the Faunus and that I could be a part of that. So I left. Adam was there on my first mission. He was there for every mission I was a part of. We were the perfect partners. We knew how to fight next to each other in almost a theatrical way. We didn’t tell people, but they knew just by looking at us that we had a bond that went past the battlefield. He was protective of me. Sometimes a Faunus stepped out of line and would say something about my parents. Adam would put them in their place, even threatened them with his sword when they went too far. Everyone knows the power of Wilt and Blush. When we fought together, he always had my back. When we were out in cities, he was there to defend me against any human. Sometimes he was too aggressive, but I stopped him before the cops would show up. When the taunting became too much, I began wearing a bow so I would avoid unnecessary attention, but Adam didn’t like the idea. I told him it was a temporary thing, but he still wouldn’t listen. It was when we had our first big fight.

  
“He claimed that I was trying to be a human, that I was ashamed of being a Faunus. He got too rowdy and pushed me aside. When he saw me fall, I saw him regret everything. I knew he didn’t mean it. I _thought_ I knew…” Yang had sat up at this point in the story and stared at Blake as she revealed her past. Blake still kept her eyes averted, ignoring the bright-haired girl as if she wasn’t telling her the story. “He apologized and let me keep the bow. Plus, it helped to blend in with humans and scouting the places that refused to serve Faunus. Those would be the places we later raided. Adam continued my training whenever we weren’t on missions. It was different though… Ever since we had the argument about my bow, there was a sense of desperation every time we trained. He pushed me harder. He would fight me with all his strength and stealth even though he was leagues ahead of me. Sometimes it went too far. When he trained me under my parents' eyes, he would stop the training whenever my aura was diminished. He'd take me to the infirmary immediately if it ever got too far. He always knew when to stop. But now my parent's weren't there and Adam didn't care. He would continue even after I told him my aura was drained. He would give me every hit he could until I couldn’t stand anymore.” Blake shook her head slightly, a sad smile forming her face. “‘Your opponents won’t stop just because you don’t have any aura left. You need to keep fighting because your life depends on it.’ That’s what he told me every night after training as he dressed my wounds. Some cuts left small scars. The bruises would heal, but the pain was still there days after. I told myself I could take it every night when we slept. I told myself he was helping me get better. I told myself it was for our cause.

  
“And I repeated these things after every mission we completed. I knew humans died whenever we went on missions, but I was never there when it happened. I think he was cautious about it, making sure I was in another place or another fight when he killed someone. The first time I witnessed Adam kill a human, I ran away. He found me and told me it was an accident. And I believed him. It kept going on to the point where it was self-defense. Every member of the White Fang ended up killing someone in their mission at some point. Some stopped because of how hard it was, others didn’t care. He then told me it was to protect me because I refused to turn like the others. I never killed a human. I would hurt them, but I never went as dark as Adam did. You can choose not to believe me, but I never did. I-”

  
“I believe you.” Blake snapped out of her trance and looked at Yang. Her lilac eyes stared at her with so many emotions, Blake’s throat closed up and it took her a while to calm down. She looked away and tried to continue the story.

  
“At a certain point,” Blake continued hoarsely, “it almost seemed like he did it for the sheer pleasure. When our training got too far, he told me a human would have killed me because I didn’t have the guts to kill them. When missions went wrong, it was my fault for not killing the humans before they tried to stop us. He never lashed out in front of the other White Fang members, but he did when we were alone in our tent. So when it came to his screams, I was used to it. We argued more than we got along. When it came to beating me bloody when I couldn't fight back, I was used to it. I was used to his kind words after his episodes. I was used to him caring for me despite all his anger. It was normal for me. After all, when you have an aura, what’s the difference with a couple more bruises?” Blake sniffed and looked down at her hands. “But it was always different in the battlefield. I could still feel that bond we shared, I still knew he would protect me no matter what happened. I looked forward to our missions because it meant his anger would be directed to someone else and not me. It meant I would be safe from any harm.

  
“On one of my last missions, we were raiding a small village that refused to serve or house any Faunus. It got out of hand, some members had started a fire and there were so many people panicking and running for their lives. The Grimm were sure to arrive any moment from what we caused. I was trying to find Adam so we could leave together. I didn’t feel safe without him. I didn’t trust the other members’ fighting skills, but I knew I could trust Adam. I saw…” Tears formed in Blake’s eyes but she refused to let them fall. “I saw this little girl who got separated from her parents. I saw Adam preparing Moonslice…” Yang couldn’t help but take in a small gasp. “I knew I couldn’t let him hurt her. She was only a little girl… So I rushed over and pushed Adam away from the little girl and told her to run away. When I turned back, Adam was looking at me. And he was enraged.” Blake shut her eyes and remembered that night. “He told me, ‘If you want to protect humans, to even look like them, then take you can take the hit for them.’ He unsheathed Wilt and brought it down on me.” Blake removed her white tailcoat. Yang’s eyes widened as she saw Blake’s left arm. A thick scar ran over most of the length. A wave of fury radiated out of Yang. Blake could feel her friend’s anger and it scared her. Yang’s eyes turned red in an instant and her hair grew flames. With a shout, Yang activated Ember Celica and punched the window near her, shattering it and creating a hole in the building adjacent to the inn. Qrow kicked the door open in a panic almost immediately, his weapon drawn out.

  
“What is going on in here?” he demanded after seeing there was no threat in the room. He stared at the two girls.

  
“Dammit Qrow, get the _hell_ out of here!” Yang shouted at her uncle, eyes still bright red with rage. Blake was in the corner, eyes darting between the family. “Get out!”

  
“Calm down!” Qrow shouted back. “I don’t think I have to remind you that we’re on limited resources and punching holes in buildings costs money!” He sheathed his weapon and stared at Blake. “Are you doing alright, Kitty Cat?” Blake could only muster a nod before Yang shoved her uncle out of the room. Yang slammed the door shut and remained in that position for several moments as she calmed down. She slammed her hand down on the wood before turning around, her eyes closed briefly.

  
“I never… I never saw that before,” Yang whispered as she turned around. Her soft, lilac eyes were back and full of sadness. Blake averted Yang’s gaze as she trailed her fingers over the raised skin. “How have I never seen it?”

  
“I made sure no one did. I had a sleeve on my left arm before and I always wore my sweater with my uniform. I never take off the coat. I didn’t want anyone to ask me what happened. I didn’t want to remember that night.” Blake clenched her fists, resisting the urge to throw the coat back on. “I woke up at the White Fang basecamp. The doctor thought I would have lost my arm. Adam told everyone I was attacked by a human while I was trying to help people escape the fire. Anything to raise more propaganda. I was another piece of his game. I didn’t leave that night even though I wanted to, despite being so weak. He came into my bed that night and told me if I did anything or told anyone what actually happened, he would hold my parents accountable for it. I don’t know why people believed him. I was one of the best fighters in the White Fang, second only to Adam. And they know Adam would do anything to make sure I was safe and unharmed. He has taken hits for me before whenever someone tried to attack me. They knew something was going on, but never said anything. I noticed how they treated me differently as if I was a fragile thing. I guess they drew their own conclusions but never asked any questions about what happened to me that night. They were either too afraid or probably thought I deserved it. My arm healed and I didn’t have a reason to stay in our infirmary tent so I had no choice but to join Adam again. He was caring again. He kept me close to protect me that night. It was like it used to be before his violence got in the way. And I fell for it again. But I wasn’t fully blinded like I was before. I kept thinking about that little girl, how Adam was ready to kill her. I was afraid. I didn’t know what to do.

  
“On my final mission with him, I knew I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t let him keep killing people. It was weeks before I joined him again. I don’t think he trusted me enough to go on the mission without me running away. I guess he had a reason to worry. He trained me anyway and used me as an example to the rest of the Faunus of what would happen if we didn’t kill any human in our path. The night before the mission, I tried to make him see what was wrong. I told him to take off the mask. I can’t really remember what his face looks like. He always had the mask, ever since I met him. He took it off when we went to bed or when we were alone together, but in the darkness when we were alone, nothing really mattered. We only mattered to each other in those moments. I told myself that if he took off his mask, he would be the Adam I fell in love with. When I reached over to take it off, he snapped my wrist. The pain was excruciating, but my aura kicked in soon enough. It was painful even though technically it had healed minutes after it happened. Some part of me thinks that all the pain was in my head. It didn’t matter. I made up my mind. When we raided the train, it felt like old times. We fought side by side, no need for communication. It felt like old times. I almost didn’t want to leave. We destroyed the androids guarding the dust without much trouble. But he wanted to kill the humans on the train and I couldn’t let him. So I detached the train carts and separated our bond.

  
“I didn’t understand. He could have chased after me. He was more than capable of catching up, but he didn’t. I don’t know why. I’ve spent hours trying to figure out why he let me escape. But I still knew he would come after me one day. I called my parents and I told them I loved them. It was the first time I spoke to them in years. Adam didn’t approve of me wanting to keep in touch with them and I was ashamed of how I treated them. I got rid of my scroll so they wouldn’t try to call me and went into hiding. For a while, I didn’t know what I would do. I could have always flown back to Menagerie, but I couldn’t face my parents. I didn’t have many options, but I knew I wanted to do something good. I joined Beacon because I wanted to do something good and I knew becoming a Huntress would ensure I always knew what was good and what was evil. I also knew I would be safe in a campus filled with Huntsmen and Huntresses. I was the right age and I had the qualifications. It was easy getting in after all the training Adam forced me through.

  
“I knew he would come after me. But I thought he would do it as soon as he could. So when the months passed by in Beacon and I created three beautiful friendships, I began to trust life again. I allowed myself to be happy. I wasn’t scared anymore, I gave myself false hope that Adam would forget about me and let me move on. I had Ruby and Weiss, but most importantly, I had _you,_ Yang. You helped me trust people. I had a partner I could trust to keep me safe and never hurt me and for that, I will always be grateful.” Blake turned her head away so she could only see the window. She couldn’t face Yang for what she was going to say next. “When you told me the White Fang was releasing Grimm into the school, I wanted to run. Deep down I knew Adam was somehow involved. When I saw him, I still wanted to run. It’s what I’m best at even if I’m not proud of it. But when I saw him bring down his sword on an Atlas student, I could only see the little girl from before. So I charged at him. I tried fighting back, but it was useless. I never won any of our training sessions. I knew he was better than me in every way possible. I didn’t know what else to do. I just wanted to make a difference. He told me he was going to hurt everyone I love and that’s when you came in.” Blake’s voice began getting strained as she held back her sobs. She buried her head in her hands and tried to control herself before she burst into hysterics. “And I’m so sorry for what he did to you. I would have rathered him kill me than do anything to you. I’m so sorry, Yang, if I could go back, I would have died that night so you could have gotten home safely. I’m sorry-”

  
Yang had crossed the room and pulled the Faunus into her arms. Blake buried her head in Yang’s shoulder and sobbed as she remembered the night. Yang held Blake tightly in her arms, closing her eyes to shed her own tears. Blake clung desperately to Yang as the image of Adam and Yang’s fight repeated in her head. “I’m sorry for running away,” Blake cried, her voice muffled by Yang’s shirt. “He tried killing you, but I got in the way and I dragged you away from him. I knew the only way I could keep you safe is if I left alone. I’m so sorry. I knew he would follow me and I couldn’t put you in danger anymore. I just wanted you to be safe.”

  
“I love you so much,” Yang whispered, holding Blake dearly in her arms. Her tears dripped down to Blake’s dark hair. Yang held Blake in place so she wouldn’t move, giving her all the love she had for her best friend. “I care about you so much, Blake. I promise you’ll never have to face him again. Next time I see him, I’ll be the one in control. I’ll make sure he suffers for what did to you.” The room got cold due to the broken window, but in Yang’s arms, Blake didn’t feel anything but her best friend’s love. “I’m so sorry. For everything.” Blake pulled away reluctantly from Yang.

  
“You shouldn’t be apologizing,” Blake murmured as more tears came. Yang wiped all of them away until Blake calmed down. “I deserve everything that happens to me. Everything was my fault, I deserve to suffer.”

  
“No,” Yang responded sternly. Blake locked eyes with her best friend. “That’s what he wants you to think. It isn’t true. I hate what happened that night and I will never be the same, but I don’t regret my decisions. I would face Adam a million times if it meant protecting you.” Blake pulled away and held her head down in shame.

  
“How can you forgive me so easily? You have the right to hate me.” Yang sighed and shook her head.

  
“I wasn’t angry that you left,” Yang started. “I was upset and hurt about it, but I was more worried about the fact that I didn’t know where you were. I had no way of knowing if you were safe or not. The last thing I saw was Adam stabbing you. You didn’t even get checked in the hospital when we got to Vale, you just left while you were still injured. I didn’t know how you were doing and I was so scared Adam would find you and try to hurt you again.” The girls had ended up in Blake’s bed during their breakdown and they didn’t care. Blake felt her eyes fall shut in drowsiness. Reliving her past exhausted her mentally. “It’s okay. I’m here, I’ll keep you safe tonight.” Blake kicked her shoes off and curled under the covers into Yang’s arm.

  
“Your uncle needs to stop calling me Kitty Cat, it’s getting really creepy,” Blake murmured without thinking, her mind already asleep. Yang let out a small chuckle as she threw a blanket over their bodies.

  
“I’ll let him know,” she whispered to Blake’s sleeping form. Yang tucked Blake’s head into the crook of her neck and held her fondly. “I’ll protect you from anything.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before Volume 6 came out. I got a surge of motivation to write this. This is what I hope will be mentioned in Volume 6 even though it's highly unlikely. Adam is one of my favorite characters even though I know everyone hates him. That being said, I do not support abusive relationships and know the severity of the situation. I do take criticism and would like to know what you liked or didn't like about my work. Here's to high hopes for Volume 6 :)


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